Missouri to play Colorado State as the No. 9 seed in NCAA Tournament

Missouri men's basketball head coach Frank Haith addresses the media Sunday at Mizzou Arena after receiving news that Missouri would be the No. 9 seed in the Midwest bracket of the NCAA Tournament. Haith spoke briefly about the team's upcoming games. "If you don't play with a sense of urgency, you're gonna be going home," Haith said.
|Amy Stroth

Missouri forward Laurence Bowers addresses the media after receiving news that Missouri would be the No. 9 seed in the Midwest bracket of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Missouri will play Colorado State in Lexington, Ky., in the second round of the tournament on Thursday.
|Amy Stroth

Missouri forward Alex Oriakhi addresses the media after receiving news on Sunday that Missouri is the No. 9 seed in the Midwest bracket of the NCAA Tournament.
|Amy Stroth

Missouri men's basektball team players and coaches learned Sunday that they will be seeded No. 9 in the next round in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will play Colorado State in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday.

The Tigers second round matchup will be on Thursday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., at 8:20 p.m., playing a Colorado State team that they don’t know much about.

Yet.

“We're going to learn a lot more tonight,” head coach Frank Haith said in a press conference following the tournament selection. “I know they're big. They're one of the better rebounding teams in the country.”

Missouri has faced Colorado State only twice in its history, both games being played in the '60s. The Rams play in the Mountain West Conference and finished the season 25-8 overall and 11-5 in league play. They are fourth in the nation in rebounding and feature senior Colton Iverson, who is averaging 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Last year, Missouri was seeded No. 2 in the tournament but was upset 86-84 in its first game against the No. 15 seed Norfolk State.

“Anybody can be beat,” Phil Pressey said, the only member from this year’s team that played in the loss. “Everybody brings their A-game come NCAA Tournament (time). Everybody has that dream of winning the whole thing.

“I can't wait to play Colorado State (on) Thursday.”

This will be the second time this season that the Tigers have played in Lexington. They lost to the Kentucky Wildcats on the road in overtime last month.

If Missouri gets past Colorado State, their next likely opponent will be No. 1 seed Louisville, who plays the winner of the first round play-in game between North Carolina A&T and Liberty.

The bracket has been made, and Missouri’s date to the “Big Dance” on Thursday could be its last date of the year.

Until then, the Tigers will be watching tapes, running through drills and preparing for the most anticipated tournament in the college basketball season.

“It's extreme preparation because you really don't know the teams you're about to play,” Bowers said. “You have to play with a sense of urgency because if you lose, you're done. None of us want our season to be over with.